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It’s Mardi Gras season! This week, you’re likely wondering what the most glamorous way to celebrate Mardi Gras is. And while the parades, street vendors, and drinking are all certainly fun, one of the best Mardi Gras traditions is the Mardi Gras ball. Mardi Gras balls have been going on in Louisiana and other parts of the south since the beginning of Mardi Gras celebrations, and are usually very formal affairs that call for evening gowns, masks, and tuxedos. Mardi Gras balls are chances for debutantes to step out and meet potential suitors in the upper-class balls that are by invitation only, and the open-attendance balls are fun for people who want a more formal Mardi Gras celebration. Because the event is so formal, it’s important to have a beautiful and glamorous updo for the occasion, all of which can be achieved by using Lionesse products. Here’s a look at some of our favorite updo styles this season.

Audrey Hepburn-Inspired French Twist
The queen of sophistication and French glamour, Audrey Hepburn’s classic French twist would be a great option if you want a more minimalist, sleek look. To get this look, start with dry, straight hair, and sweep your hair over to the right side, securing at the bottom with a bobby pin. Bring the hair from the other side over to meet your first bobby pin, smoothing and rolling as you go (make sure not to condense your hair into a bun). If pieces fall out while you’re rolling, don’t worry: you can go back and bobby pin those later. Once you have the roll you want, bobby pin! You’ll need quite a few for this look, so try stacking them in an X pattern to get the best hold. Finish with some shine hair spray and voila: perfect Audrey Hepburn French twist.

Bridget Bardot-Inspired Half-Updo
This updo has a glamorous but messy look, with the piecey front bangs and voluminous crown so popular in the 1960s. To achieve this look, start with dry, loosely curled hair, then try gently teasing the back of your crown with a fine-toothed comb in order to get some volume. Once you’ve done that, smooth the rest of your hair over it with a shine serum, and tie back in a half-updo look. For piecey, romantic bangs, rub a little bit of hair paste between your hands, then gently pick through your bangs to give them more definition. For extra glam, secure your half-updo with a sparkly pin: Bridget Bardot would definitely approve.

Great Gatsby-Inspired Low Side Bun
The magic and glamour of Mardi Gras balls are very evocative of the 1920s flapper style, so why not wear your hair to match? To achieve this effortlessly sexy look, simply add some volume to any texture of hair (you can do this with curly, straight, or wavy hair) by flipping your hair over your head and using some volumizing hairspray. Once you’ve hairsprayed, simply part your hair to the side, and gather your hair in a messy, unstructured low side bun. Bobby pin to keep in place, and pull out strands here and there for an unpretentious glamour. For extra 20s inspiration, try two bobby pins right by your ear.

Mardi Gras is all about extravagance, decadence, beauty, and being over the top. This means Mardi Gras hair is just that: all about the most volume, the most curl, the most straightness…whatever style you choose, make sure to take it to the extreme for Mardi Gras. One fun way to do that is to incorporate hair accessories into your look. But not just any hair accessory, since Mardi Gras is all about “big”, you’ll want to look for flamboyant and flashy hair accessories to stand out amongst the crowds. Here are some of our favorites for Mardi Gras hair accessories sure to grab attention.

Peacock Feathers
Since Mardi Gras colors are green, purple, and yellow, peacock feathers fit in perfectly with the color scheme with their purple and green fluorescent beauty. There are lots of premade peacock hair accessories available, but you could even make your own: a crown of peacock feathers looks beautiful for a more bohemian look, a spray of four or five attached by the ear have a 1920s vibe, and you can even braid them into your hair for a Native-inspired look. Lots of Mardi Gras participants wear peacock feathers on their masks as well, and some use their masks to wrap around the sides and back of their heads in a full helmet of peacock fringe! Like we said, Mardi Gras is all about the extravagant and the extreme: so wear as many as you want!

Pearl Headbands, Clips, and Other Accessories
Pearls are a beautiful way to make any outfit instantly classier, and the same goes for pearls in your hair. For a delicate, romantic look, try single-pearl clips that you can arrange on your hair in patterns. For a more dramatic look, pearl headbands are easy to find and very comfortable because of their soft quality. Pearl clips are a great choice as well. Peacock masks look great with pearls, and vice versa, so feel free to play around with your favorite combinations!

Flower Crowns
Flower crowns are a great bohemian way to add some fun and excitement to your Mardi Gras outfit. The best part? You can easily make a beautiful flower crown from your very own house! Simply grab some craft store flowers (purple, green, and yellow flowers work best for Mardi Gras colors), some silver and gold glitter, hot glue, and a flexible floral wire. Arrange your flowers any way you want to, to fit your head shape the best. The biggest flowers, like roses and daisies, look great in the very front, and smaller filler flowers like baby’s breath look pretty farther back. Once you’ve decided where you want to place your flowers, cover them in whatever glitter you like (silver looks great with Mardi Gras colors), hot glue them to your floral wire, and voila! Now you have a beautiful, easy, and best of all, unique headpiece that will be sure to catch everyone’s attention at Mardi Gras.

Mardi Gras will be awesome this year: all the food, drinks, music, and of course, the beads. But, like any street festival, the weather, activities, and crowds can make having a hairstyle tough to make and maintain. Whether you’re going for a big, dramatic updo or just trying to keep your hair out of your face during the festivities, here are some ways that you can keep your street fest hair–even during the craziness of Mardi Gras–both beautiful and lasting.

Go Crazy with the Bobby Pins
Seriously. A woman cannot live on hairspray alone. Make sure you give your braid, ponytail, or dramatic pompadour some metal support, along with whatever hairspray or gel you use to sculpt it into place. The heat and humidity of New Orleans can increase frizziness or make your hairspray less effective, so it’s important to have a double-team of hair product and bobby pins to keep your coif in place. And no street festival purse is complete without bobby pin backups–even if you don’t need them, you’ll probably meet someone who does (and maybe get some free beads out of the deal).

Hairspray, Hair Gel, Hair Pomade, Everything
New Orleans is in the deep South, which means crawfish, good music, and insane humidity. Fight the frizz with products that suit whichever style you’re wearing: if you’re rocking a high ponytail, use a hair gel for a sleek, polished look; soft curls call for flexible hair pomade, and a dramatic updo (or anything defying gravity) definitely needs hairspray.

Experiment with Updos
If you’re normally a hair-down kind of girl, try something new for Mardi Gras. Because of the heat and amount of people you’ll be around in those giant crowds, it’s always nice to keep yourself as compact as possible in order to not get bumped into in the streets. A good way to do this is to try braids: a French braid would obviously be appropriate, but double braids or even a braided bun would look adorable as well. If you’re more of a simple lady, try a ponytail with extra volume by teasing the top of your scalp and smoothing over it with a shine serum for a bouncy, voluminous pony. In the spirit of Carnival, you can, of course, get crazy: add some feathers, jewels, or glitter if you feel your updo gets too boring.

Keep Your Hair off Your Face
Trust us: it’s going to be hot, humid, and crowded. And if you would rather wear your makeup on your face and not on your bangs, then make sure you keep them off your face for the festival. French braiding bangs into the rest of the hairline is super effortless and cute, or try a retro twist away from the face and set with hairspray. A mini-pompadour looks cute as well: just backcomb the hair above your bangs, pull them back, and voila, your bangs are now a little celebratory Mardi Gras pouf.

We all know a friend who rushed through the Big Chop: you know, the one that had the breakup, or lost her job, or had some other big crisis in their life that led them straight to the salon chair for a fresh new pixie. Hopefully, it turned out great, but for others, it probably didn’t: it’s super important to do your research before making a big decision that you’ll see in the mirror every morning. If you’ve already decided that the Big Chop is on your horizon, use this guide to figure out which one will work best for you.

Figure Out Your Face Shape
The first thing you should do is look in the mirror (surprising, we know). You’re going to try to find your face shape, which will help determine which haircuts lay best on your scalp and help frame your face in the most attractive way. To do this, ask yourself one simple question: What’s the widest part of your face?

Forehead: if your forehead is the widest area and tapers down to your chin, then your face is heart-shaped, otherwise called the “inverted triangle” shape.

Cheekbones: you have a diamond, or long face shape.

Jaw: the opposite of a heart-shaped face, your widest part of your face means you have a pear-shaped or triangular face shape.

No Particular Part: if your face doesn’t have any discernible wider parts than any of the others, you have a round face shape.

Now that you’ve got a handle on what kind of face shape you have, let’s take a look at some of the best short cuts for that shape.

Heart Shaped Faces
Try a bouncy bob like Diana Agron’s, whose locks hit just at her jawline and angle up to the back of her head. The diagonal line of the cut draws attention to the face, while the shortness makes sure the bob stays fresh and full, not weighed down. Heart-shaped faces are super versatile, so ask your stylist about whether or not bangs would be a good addition: wispy, delicate bangs look adorable and sexy on heart-shaped faces.

Diamond Faces
Diamond face shapes are the queens of the deep side parts: the dramatic divide helps show off your statement cheekbones and highlights the eye area. Go for an asymmetrical bob with a deep side part like Rosamund Pike, whose diamond face shape is ultra-flattered by the softness of the cut and the angle of her hairline.

Pear-shaped Faces
For pear-shaped faces, look for cuts with lots of volume at the top of the head to help even out the dramatic jawline and help balance out the facial structure. We love Michelle Williams’ romantic pixie with lots of crown volume and wispy bangs.

Round Faces
The most important part of a short cut on a round face is having tons of texture: because the face shape is so symmetrical, you want to add lots of volume and layers to keep from looking younger than you want to. The trick is to create a new shape, not mimic the natural roundness of the face.

Okay, you’ve made it: you’ve jumped the great divide into short hair territory. You’ve done the Big Chop. But now, a few months in, you might be kind of bored with your new short hairstyle. Don’t worry—there are just as many ways to have fun with your new short hair as there are reasons to cut it! We compiled a list of our favorite looks.

Braided Bangs
Regardless of whether or not you actually have bangs, this look is one of the easiest and fuss-free styles for short hair. To do this, simply take a quarter of the hair around your hairline (either where your bangs are, or where your bangs would be), and French braid across your head, following your hairline. The end effect will be like having a built-in braided headband: super cute, and you won’t have to worry about your hair falling into your face all day.

Half-Top Knot
We know, we know, it sucks not being able to do a traditional bun. However, the newest trend in short hair style takes a cue from samurais and your yoga teacher: take up only half of your hair and tie it into a cute top-knot with the same technique you’d use on long hair. You’ll have the benefit of looking “done”, but with pretty much zero effort.

Get Crazy with Bobby Pins
One of our favorite trends right now is playing around with bobby pins, especially chevron patterns. To do, take two bobby pins and make a “V”. Stack them all along one side of your hairline (where you used to put barrettes in elementary school) for a minimalist, beauty-blogger vibe. Try a half-up style with a bobby pin triangle in the back for some geometric love, or make some “X”s for an edgier look.

If you want more than just a plain bobby pin, try some bobby pin DIYs: if you’re going for a mermaid vibe, pick up some shells from your local beach; if you’re more of a classic girl, grab some craft store pearls; and if want an old-world Mexico vibe, ceramic roses look beautiful on a bobby pin. Simply grab some hot glue, your object of choice, and a bobby pin: viola, a brand new, unique hair accessory.

Retro Roll
Take a cue from the 50s and try a pinup-style front roll. To do this, simply part your hair deeply to one side, then take the front quarter and twist it. Bobby pin it across your hairline, then gently pull some pieces out (don’t take them out of the actual twist: you just want to give it volume). Finish with some hairspray and you’re good to go!

Accessorize!
One of the easiest parts about styling short hair is the number of hair accessories that can suit even the shortest pixie cut. For a Rosie-the-Riveter vibe, try a folded polka dot hair scarf in place of a regular headband. If you’re more bohemian, try peacock feather extensions for some gypsy flair. If you’re a classicist, you know it’s impossible to go wrong with a simple tortoiseshell headband (just make sure to pick up a faux one: we love our turtles).

When it comes to curling and styling hair, most of the descriptions and tutorials you will find are pertaining to shoulder length and longer styles. Whether you’ve had a short style for a while now, or if you just went pixie on a lark, you have every right to enjoy a nice variety of styles that include curls and waves. Just how you go about getting them might require a bit of understanding, but if you’re reading this, you’re in the right place to begin!

Give That Short Bob the Curl!
Whether freshly shampooed or two days ago, begin by dampening your hair. Next, apply the appropriate styling product for your hair structure: for thickly textured hair, styling gel is best. If your hair is fine and/or thin, you need to go with a mousse. Once your product has been applied, blow dry your hair. After drying, give it some volume by brushing with a round brush.

Divide and Conquer
The best way to make sure your curling effort is properly done is to work in sections. First, create a top section and clip that one away with some Darby clips to separate it from the bottom, where you will begin curling. Working with pieces that are sized about ¾ inch to 1 inch and a curling iron with a ¾ inch barrel, spray the strand with a good quality setting spray. Now, curl around the entire bottom section of your hair, spraying each section just before your curl it with the wand, with each side’s curl direction being formed to wrap away from your face. Once you’ve completed the entire bottom section, unclip the top one, and perform the same curling there. Once your hair has fully cooled, you can rake your fingers through the curls and finish with a blast of your favorite hairspray.

Delightfully Curled Pixies
Pixies are no problem, when you have the right technique. In most cases, your flat iron is the best curling tool you have. Next-day or second-day hair will perform more volume and hold than freshly washed tresses. You can create some texture and volume to subtle waves by spraying in some texturizing or beachy hair spray to fully dry hair. Take your ¾” flat iron and after sectioning off the top portion, curl the bottom just slightly by producing some alternating directions for hair “bends,” by closing the plates on your hair about midway and twisting the iron ¼ turn, then slowly lift or move the iron back from the face and away. Do this to both sides, and then unclamp the top section. For a lovely messy windblown pixie, apply the flat iron in the same way, but rotate it a full ½ rotation, and slowly work to ends. You can add in some nice random dimensional effects by taking longer top strands here and there, and first twisting them and then slowly running your flat iron down their length with plates closed on the twist. Let cool, finger-fluff, and shoot with hairspray. The longer top-cut pixies can also be flat-ironed as you would do for a bob, straight and ends turned gently under.

There’s a lot of misgivings about how once you go dramatic with a short haircut, you are, at the same time, simultaneously cutting out all your styling options and forever relegating yourself to one or two styles at best. With a lot of credit where credit is due–some bobby pins nicely spray-coated by dry shampoo and some rad texturizing formulations make short hair something to totally rock.

What Short Hair Means
Funny how the mention of “short hair” conjures up a whole myriad of concepts about what “short” really means. In all fairness, “short hair” probably best begins at a jawline point and can go all the way up to close-cropped tresses that make “pixie” cuts appear super long. Ultimately, the exact length of your “short hair” will never matter as much as what you wind up doing with it. With a rich slurry of amazing products and techniques for everything pixie to short-ish hair, there is literally no end to what you can come up with, to rock any occasion.

DFree / Shutterstock.com

Celebs Know About Secret Versatility of Shorter Hairstyles
When it comes to short cuts, there are no shortcuts to simplify the responsibility that even the shortest styles transport. With tons of tips from the short-cut celebs like Halle Berry, with her wildly-worked hair flair atop her Hollywood head, she’s trading in her former volume for silky smooth layering cut to frame her face, creating a gorgeous long-swept fringed effect. Michelle William’s creatively blended top jagged cut pixie layers convey the perfect artistry for sophisticated dressing effects. These cuts with long measures of choppy tops and cut short bottoms make for easy transition to formal style with a little texturizing and some good hairspray–and you’re done!

Short Color-Rocking HairShort hair is an excellent way to show off some major color dimension, from modern balayage, to progressive ombre. It’s all in the precision that goes into layering throughout the layers, and some beachy wave spray. Chelsea Kane’s rich color effects come to life with a sophisticated cut that separates while blending ice blonde streaks with significantly darker strands for color that’s all simpatico.

Helga Esteb / Shutterstock.com

Pixie Power
Charlize Theron has been sporting shorter cuts for her lovely blond tresses for a while, but she’s taken it to a different level in chopping off even more, to pixie length with long bangs, and turning toward a diminished volume in favor of straight soft lines. Her edges are less jagged-cut for edges that fall together and move together. It’s a fine, formal hairstyle. Sami Gayle’s pixie is all about head-turning drama, with its obviously disproportionate-cut staggered lengths. This cut is ideal for anyone with a round face (and a little black dress!) In an entirely different, more windswept look that’s every bit as formally fashionable, Audrey Tautou rocks the pixie with a fully razored style that’s cut short near the head in the back and sides. The many top layers are jagged-cut and beautifully blended in a way that makes this cut great for any face shape, and a lovely go-to-do for anything dressy.

There are numerous reasons why the top hair secrets of the pros remain hidden from the mainstream public, with the main one being that if they were to get out, a lot of these guys would be out of work. Because their profession calls for them to always be devising new innovations for gorgeous hair effects and styling enhancements, it’s what they do. Thankfully, a few of them are not very worried about being displaced by any home-based hair expert wannabes, so they are happy to keep us well-informed with the basics for the most current trending techniques and styles. Typically, these are the styling artists whose work is so highly revered that they’re the ones the celebs swear by. And now, for your reading pleasure, here’s the latest: Color Melting.

Color Melting, Defined
Ever since we learned about Ombre a few years ago, coloring techniques have been on a continuous stream of improving and outdoing themselves, one right after another. If you’re stumped by the technique’s name, don’t be. First, this kind of melting does not involve any heat source, with melting used to describe the effects of the color placement, only. In a nutshell, color melting is what you get when you take all of the top coloring techniques since ombre’s origin and put the best of them all together into one process and improve them beyond where they left off. And in a melting process that is superbly gradual and slow, colors are delivered to the hair strands that become lighter, with no exact discernable point where the color can be seen changing. Color melting succeeds at what every other technique has tried to do and has failed.

The How
In color melting, each highlight–regardless of color or hue–is blended with the hair’s base color first, and from there includes a multitude of softly progressive shades of the same color, which eliminates any telltale demarcation lines.

Making Pinks and Blues Appear Natural
This coloring technique has already hit big among celebs, with progressions softly blending silvery blond effects into gentle pinks, rich browns that fade down into teal-tinted blondes and intermingling of rich grays with subtle shades of violet-plums. On the more natural side, There are lovely caramelized effects that are richly dense with shade after shade, gently progressing just enough to absolutely rock the color.

Already A “Most Requested” Color Choice for Hollywood Heads
Among the stars who are being seen sporting this fresh, new technique are J.Lo–going for a more natural mix of goldens, blondes and rich caramels, and Hilary Duff’s sexy, exotic remake that includes a glam progression beginning with semi-dark roots that spill into light blonde silver, and turning into a well appointed violet pink proceeding all the way in melting fashion down her long, long tresses. Vanessa Hudgens was already killing this style a couple of years ago, working it all the way on her long and wavy locks color-melted by blond to aqua, and Rihanna’s waist-hitting ponytail ends are a softly subtle silver, while it’s impossible to see at which point they actually depart from the root color of black-brown sheen to go grey. Color melting so works.

You may have naturally curly hair, but those beautiful, defined curls that you see on models and celebrities don’t just happen naturally. If you left your hair to its own devices and just washed and combed it every day, it would be a frizzy mess. There are certain unwritten rules that curly haired people must abide by to get the best-looking locks! To get beautiful, defined curls, you need to take a few special steps. Here are a few tips to get those defined curls you want naturally:

Use the Right Products in the Shower
If you have curly hair, you don’t have to actually shampoo your hair. Ever. In fact, if you do shampoo, you can actually dry out your hair and make it more frizzy. Instead, you should just stick to a cleansing conditioner. You’ll get the cleaning you need without stripping your hair of its natural oils. If you must use a shampoo, use an all-natural option that is free of sulfates. Don’t wash your hair every time you get in the shower – once or twice a week should do the trick.

Dry Your Hair Properly
Blow drying your curly hair will cause it to be dry and frizzy. If you absolutely must blow dry your hair — such as if you wake up late and have to get to work ASAP — make sure you use a diffuser. Otherwise, always leave time to allow your hair to air dry. You can use a t-shirt or other cotton cloth to wring out any excess moisture, or you can just use your hands. Air drying paired with an anti-frizz serum are always best for curly hair. Do not go to sleep with wet hair. Lying on a pillow will only flatten out your curls and result in an oily looking scalp with flat hair – not the look you are going for!

Choose a Defining Routine
The type of curl you have will depend on what type of defining routine you choose. A basic routine consists of applying a styling gel, custard or other moisturizing product to your hair and scrunching up your curls by cupping your hand. You should then leave the curls to dry completely without touching them. Touching them will only cause them to frizz. For tighter curls, you can add a large amount of leave-in conditioner to your hair and use a Denman brush to gently comb out the curls to give them definition. Then finger comb, smooth and twirl the curls to give them more definition, and allow them to dry. You can also twist your curls by wrapping small sections of hair around your finger. The method allows even those with different types of curls to get a more uniform look. Always leave your hair to dry without touching it.

Getting naturally beautiful curls is not difficult. You just have to use the right products and the right routine. Over time, you’ll learn what works best for your curls and your hair will thank you for it!

When it comes to getting gorgeous, wavy hair, your best friend is a tool–and that tool is your flat iron. It’s your go-to tool to get down with some seriously sumptuous hair bending. Your flat iron has in its DNA all the power and versatility you need for every wave possible, Here some top forms of working wave wonder into your styling routine–that’s already contained in the mind of your flat iron:

Don’t Do it Dirty
Whenever you’re going to be using heated styling tools, you should start out on clean, dry hair. It’s OK to heat style the day following a shampoo, if you haven’t gotten sweaty or been around a dirty environment. Even though all the trends point to styling power you can get by styling dirty hair, who cares how good you LOOK if you smell so bad that no one wants to come within 10 feet of you? If your hair needs some texturizing help for better gripping action, spray on some dry shampoo, staying away from the roots. but before you get to the dry shampoo, first make sure to apply a protective balm or serum all over your strands. On “day-old” hair, before the protection, mist your hair to dampen it with some water, for better spreadability.

The Salt-Down
The best beachy waves–and all the others, too begin with good sea salt sprays. The best ones for your hair are actually made with Epsom salts–which won’t dry your hair like regular salt will. (Misnomer? yep.) For curly girls with ample volume, only use a tad of this product. For those with flat, fine or thin hair, experiment with using as much as possible to get the luscious results you deserve. Brands can vary, and it may take a few tries to find the one you prefer. You would use sea salt spray in lieu of dry shampoo, as it is formulated to perform the same, but without cleaning your hair. You apply it to wet or dry hair and before heating up the styling tools, allow your hair to fully dry.

Wave Variations to Know
From teeny-tiny to big, loose waves–your flat iron can do it all! For the most part, heat styling begins with “breaking it down,” or sectioning off your hair into at least two, but often more areas, with styling beginning at the bottom sections and moving up. Here are some to try:

Braided Waves: This easy trick has been around forever, with the beauty of braids giving you two styles in one. The first one is the actual braids–usually one in the middle back, or two side braids that typically begin at the jawline and go to the ends. You’ll get cool effects by stopping the braids a couple inches before the ends, too. The second style comes when you take out your braids. You just rake your fingers through your unbraided hair, and after a minimum of a few hours, you simply enjoy the waves. Your flat iron can give you style #2 immediately, by braiding dry hair into big to medium to small braids and then one by one, close the plates of your flat iron down on the top of the braiding and slowly progress down to where the braiding ends. Make sure your hair is completely cooled off before unbraiding and raking. Quick, powerful and lovely.

The Wound Wave Effect: This one is super easy and fast. You begin this about two inches from the roots, and you position the open flat iron plates together there. On one of the “arms” of the iron, wrap and wrap each strand to be waved, leaving only the tip ends out. Once fully wound, close the plates together and hold for around 3-5 seconds. Without unwinding your wound strand, gently slip the flat iron down and out. Allow each strand to fully cool, undisturbed. The size of waves will be determined by the width of your iron.

Aluminum Foil Waves: This cool hot hack can give you everything from fro-sized kinky waves to loose and lovely beach locks. With smaller waves needing more and smaller sections, and loose ones vice versa, take 5” long pieces of aluminum foil and roll them or fold them up enough to give them dependable styling body. When you’re done, hold onto these foil pieces for another time. You choose the strands and their size. You can even mix up the size of strands to produce some killing versatility of wave sizes. Secure each wound strand with a bobby pin. Once all your hair is wound up, take your flat iron and close the plates upon the top of each strand and slowly run it down the entire length and leave alone. Make sure everything is cooled down, and remove the foil strips. Do not use a brush on this one, unless you are going for a full-on fro! Finger raking is all that’s needed. Shoot with flexible hold hairspray and dash.